How Lucky Am I
by TheDudeness
Summary: One-Shot, Finchel- During their annual Ohio winter visit, Rachel get's called back early due to work purposes, so Finn is left to drive back to New York alone with their three young children, how will he cope?


Hey everyone, so here's a one shot on the finchel family. Rachel has to return to New York earlier than them for work purposes so Finn is left to drive them back alone. How does he cope? what problems and craziness arrives with the daunting task of minding three young children?

Thanks for reading, also tell me what you think so I know if I should write more =) ... have a nice weekend

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"Remember to make sure they have enough snacks and stuff, oh and feed Mae before you leave since she'll probably sleep for a few hours after-"

"Rach you're making out like I've never been alone with our kids before"

From the other side of the phone she paused, Rachel was your typical obsessive mother who was willing to do everything for her children, however that had been grasped from her hands since she had to leave their winter Ohio visit early and fly back alone since her understudy couldn't make it, so with much regret she was letting her husband drive her three young kids back.

"I'm sorry, it's just you're going to be with them in a small confined space for a whole seven hours, I love my kids and all Finn but I know what they can be like. Within minutes of leaving Emily will need to go to the bathroom, Alfie will spill his water bottle all over himself and Maegyn will be screaming bloody murder from her car seat"

When she put it like that it actually scared him a little, "Uhh thanks for the words of encouragement"

"No! I don't mean it like that, what I'm saying is that you should be prepared"

"I am prepared" he replied in a not so convincing tone, "everything's ready and waiting in the car"

"Are the kids?"

He looked around the room from the sofa to see his youngest baby chewing happily on some plastic car keys in her grandfathers lap, his second youngest Emily was doing her intelligent thing and reading books on the lower staircase, while the sounds of Alfie's squeals where coming from the kitchen as he accompanied his grand mother.

"No but I'm just about to get them ready" he assured, some how she had slowly drained all the enthusiasm out of him, "ok well call me and let me know how things are" she replied chewing the corner of her finger, it's not that she didn't trust him, but the circumstances where different. A thin layer of black ice-covered most roads and traffic was constantly on the go, so having three kids, one who's on the verge of teething in the car wasn't going to be the easiest of tasks.

"I will, love you" he half heartedly smiled realising this was it, "I love you too" then she left.

Quickly re-glancing around the main living are he sighed heavily, "Emmie it's time to go" the four year old smiled innocently, she was Rachel's little dopple ganger as well as severe Mommy's girl, she sported what she called her 'smart people glasses' with pride and the thought of getting to go home to New York lit up her eyes.

"We get to go to Mommy?!" she tumbled off the step without forgetting to pile her miniature books into her arms and ran straight into his legs as he emerged from the sofa.

He chuckled internally before reaching out to take the spillage of papers, "yah she's waiting for us back home"

Emily had a sudden boost of energy and decided to go tell the news to her big brother, Finn however had the daunting task of removing his now comfortable baby and dressing her in the appropriate winter clothing since Rachel insisted it was necessary just to get to the car.

Maegyn was quite different to her older siblings, instead of having the Rachel Berry brunette head of hair and chocolate eyes, she was surprisingly blonde like her father had been as a youngster, even her eyes where different with a golden hazel colour around the centre, "you wanna go see Mommy Mae?" he clapped once before holding his arms out so she could return the favour.

However Maegyn had other ideas, she looked at her father like he had two heads before turning back to her current toy she was working on with the tooth that cut her front gums. He watched as Burt held back laughs before inching closer towards him, "hey Miss Mae it's time to go home" he smiled holding her up on her legs to his face.

Maegyn in the moment looked ready to cry leaving the feeling rather bitter-sweet, Finn took the child into his arms and against his chest "do you not want to go home?"

"No Daddy we have to go right now!" Emily stomped into the room obviously only hearing the wrong part of the conversation.

Burt chuckled before leaning against the arm closest to her, "do you not want to stay here with me and Nana? I'm sure we could find a spot for you in the little closet under the stairs-"

"Don't be silly Grandpa!" she giggled, "I'm not Harry Potter" she added before turning around and scampering away. Burt looked at his step son with a face of confusion "She's four and she knows what Harry Potter is... how?"

Finn shrugged, "beats me, she's a smart one" he smiled proudly, Maegyn found sudden interest in her Nana's voice and leant back daringly to try to get a peek through the doorway.

"You wanna see Nana?" he mumbled walking into the kitchen with her still tight in his arms, Carole was now entertaining her two eldest grand children by showing them how to tie a knot in their snack bags, "Mom we need to get going"

On cue the older woman sighed, "really? not just a little longer"

"Sorry Ma, it's getting late and I'd rather get back before midnight" she nodded understandingly, "Dad do you want to see how I do this?" Alfie asked holding the clear bag up, Alfie was his little man and at the tender ago of seven, surprisingly he was not the spoilt type which they'd expected considering he was the first child and got absolutely dotted on for his first few years. Alfie was very protective of his little sister, though he still found time to fight with Emily, but over all the three children where very close.

"Sure buddy, have you been practising?" Finn smiled taking a few steps closer and planting Maegyn on the counter beside him.

"Yep, Nana taught me a special way" he said in a secretive voice, after realising Mae was yet to gain patience and did not like being held down he placed her with Carole and watched as his son succeeded in his latest task.

After a small applause he put the little boy on the ground, "as awesome as that was, we have to get going" Alfie nodded subtly before running back towards his Grandpa.

Carole purposely made sure he collected the mounds of snacks and little bits she purchased for their journey knowing he'd have to wait a bit longer, she fed Maegyn before allowing Burt to say good-bye to her as she dozed off in her arms. Once certain she was dreaming, she pulled on her little jacket and got her strapped into her car seat in the vehicle, "Carole honey I think it's time to let them leave" Burt said stepping out of the house.

The two youngest kids thought it would be fun to start stuffing snow down each others clothes leaving Finn to clear up the mess and pat them down beside the car, he playfully threw Alfie into the passenger seat which he found an honour since that was usually Mommy's seat and Mommy's seat only. Buckling himself in Finn closed the door and smiled when he began to vigorously wave to his grand parents though they hadn't left, picking Emily up onto his hip he gave a quick good-bye to Carole and Burt before following around the other side and sliding Emily in next to her sister.

Onto the road they finally got a whole thirty minutes later, Maegyn was still snoozing away but her jacket was ditched and a soft white blanket covered her lower body, Emily was unusually quiet reading her kiddie encyclopaedias, he was certain she was going to be some sort of genius one day, though to him she already was. And seven year old Alfie stared contempt out of his window onto the snowy roads which seemed to be getting thicker.

"You ok?" Finn asked still driving, he leant his left hand over to gently tap the boy's shoulder.

"Yep... do you think the snow will get any worse?"

"I hope not Buddy, Momma's expecting us and I have a feeling that if we're not on time she might kill me" Alfie giggled amused.

An hour into their journey and not much had changed, well now Emily had taken up the idea of sharing random facts with the family, "and did you know the most snow fall ever recorded was over thirty-one metres!" he was surprised she even knew what a metre was, "do you think we'll get that much Daddy?" her innocence was adorable leaving him to chuckle.

"I don't think so sweetie"

"It would be cool, we could make huge house made of snow!" Alfie interfered.

"But it would be cold..."

"No! cos we could just get radiators"

Over the laughter he finally spoke, "yes but then the snow would melt"

"...oh" he grinned. He turned in his chair to get a glance of his little sister, "do you have anymore snow facts?" He sometimes found it odd at how good they actually got along, before the birth of his second they had the many warnings from relatives about how siblings fight and never act loving, luckily his kids rarely fought.

"Uhh... Nope, but the most rainfall ever recorded was one-thousand metres"

"Metres!" Finn exclaimed.

"Oh, no wait a minute, I meant inches" she giggled cheekily. It even astounded him to think his nearly five year old could read probably better than he ever will,  
from a young age she had shown potential, she was even in a year above her real age, obviously Rachel bragged about it at every given opportunity which Emily was quite fond of.

"_Phew_" Finn joked.

The new-found silence was short-lived when Mae began to hysterically wail, "Emmie can you make sure she has her pacifier please?" he attempted to watch her struggle from the mirror.

"It's not working Daddy, she just spits it back out again" Emily panicked, "try playing with her a bit Em" he suggested.

Her cries soon died down but she sniffled dramatically wanting comfort, Finn some how had managed to comfort her by leaning his arm back to rub her little pink cheeks though as soon as he moved she fussed again, "Daddy make her stop!" Emily whined placing her hands on her ears and pulling as far away from the baby as possible.

"Let me try" Alfie said. He loosened his seat belt slightly and turned to peep through the gap in the seat, "hey Mae" he smiled, catching her attention he carried on "well I know you're sad and all but Daddy can't fix it because he's driving" Finn felt his heart swell as he carried on with his explanation, "but if you want I can try to make it better... why are you sad, huh?" Mae had stopped completely and just stared in awe of her brother.

"I think it worked" Emily's little mumbles where recognised, she cautiously lowered her hands and perked up "maybe she would like to hear some more facts?"

"No! she doesn't know what that stuff means-"

"Well I do!"

He was starting to regret saying his kids where well-behaved with each other, "hey both of you, please calm down. You'll make Mae cry again" well that scared them both into being quiet.

Another two hours later and they where nearly half way through their journey, Maegyn was finding it quite amusing to launch toys and stuffed animals between her siblings and father while Emmie took up the idea of pulling her knees to her chest and hiding underneath her coat with her little pink hippo torch.

"Daddy did you know Hippos aren't really pink?" he heard her mumble, "oh and hippo's are related to dolphins and whales!"

"_Really?!_ I did not know that" he said in an overly enthusiastic tone winking at his eldest.

"Dad I'm hungry" Alfie told. Finn knew this was coming, only problem was that yes his children where unusually behaved but when it came to snack time they where worse than the rest. Food would end up flying across rooms and stuck to ceilings, "Dad!" he shouted again getting impatient.

Once his bubble burst he spoke, "is there something you want from the bag Nana gave us?"

He looked around his area with no luck, "Emmie where's the stuff we got" Emily whipped down her coat to show her head which now had wisps of hair spaying everywhere.

"I got's it!" she squealed, all's Finn could see was her little legs swaying from side to side as she dived to the ground to retrieve the stuff, "shall I go through them?" before they could reply she did a Rachel and completely ignored their awaited answers, "there's: cookies, apples, uhh I think this ones a sandwich but I'm not sure" she held a see thru bag up of squashed mush.

"_Gross!_" Alfie exclaimed, "Daaaa!" they heard a scream.

Emily sat fully back to avoid her sister who had a new lease of life, "yes Pumpkin'?" Finn smiled thankful that at least one of his children where behaving. When Maegyn didn't reply but just smiled he carried on, "are you hungry too?" the littlest girl let out a subtle giggle with her mouth agape.

"But Mae can't have people's food?" Emily expressed matter-of-factly.

"I know honey, umm could you get her bib a place it under her chin please?" Emily looked at him almost in disgust, as much as she loved her baby sister, Alfie had always been the hands on one.

He watched her carefully pick out the floral patterned cloth from her diaper bag and gently strap in around her neck, luckily Alfie had already figured out what was next and had taken her baby bottle from the front compartment, "here you go Maegyn" he smiled passing the bottle to her, once sure it sat comfortable in her mouth and on top of her chest he let go.

"Right, so that's one down two to go" he thought aloud quickly checking on the baby who was gulping away at her food.

"What... about..." he spaced concentrating on the heavy snow falling from the sky at an alarming rate, "oh look there are cereals in here!" Emmie squealed.

The children had always been big fans of munching on Cheerios or puffed rice, "pass me some Emily!"

"Please" Finn corrected sternly, "please?"

Emily tossed a small box of round cereal hoops in his direction which he manically opened, without asking Alfie leant up and began posting Cheerios into his mouth with a cheeky giggle, "thank you buddy"

"Welcome" he smiled proud. His hopes of a quiet snack where soon turned down when Emily threw a cookie at her big brother with no intention of a food fight, however Alfie quickly threw it back without even listening to her explanation and before they knew it there where sweet treats all over the show, "stop it" Finn started with a low, monotone voice, it soon turned into a beg when Maegyn began to squirm, "guys please stop?"

"She started it!"

"Well I'm finishing it-"

"Daddy, Alfie threw cookie into my hair" he looked into the rear view mirror to see the baby brunette stringing dough from her straight locks.

"But she got it down my shirt!"

"Yah well-"

His head felt ready to explode, maybe Rachel was right after all. The final straw was when Mae wailed so loud that her little face went bright red...

"QUIET!"

... Silence. Dead silence.

Maegyn stopped crying and just froze in pure shock, her thumb quickly found her mouth which she settled on realising her Daddy was in no mood to be messed with, Emily's lips fell agape as she sat on her knees with her hands still matted in her hair and Alfie gulped painfully contemplating biting his cheek to avoid tears.  
As soo as Finn noticed his big, strong boy nearly crying, a wave of guilt washed over him, "I'm sorry buddy" he apologised.

Luckily they were in an unfortunate bout of traffic, giving him enough time to cup his sons chin with his hand "I didn't mean to yell" Alfie nodded into his hand though still obviously upset.

Though seventy-five per cent of the car's passengers where children, the next few moments where awkward. Once the line began to move he felt almost relieved, "Daddy can we play a game?"

"Sure, what would you like?" he replied speaking to Emily who sat behind him, "I spy"

"I spy with my little eye, something beginning with A?"

"Alfie!"

"Good one Munchkin'"

"That was way too easy Dad" Alfie smirked knowing he started slow for the sake of his sisters.

"Oh what are you sayin' buddy, do we have a professional I spyer in the car?" the older two children giggled loudly at his child's play, "I'll start again shall I,  
I spy with my little eye, something beginning with... O"

"octopus!" Emily squealed.

"Sorry Emmie, I don't see any octopus"

"Oh"

"... I know!"

Finn looked at his son expectantly, "Orange!" he announced pointing to the row of fruit on the back seat which Emily had neatly placed from the bag due to her boredom.

"Watch out Emmie, we have another super smart cookie in the car... not that you weren't before" Finn teased. After a marathon game he noticed it they were very nearly five hours into their journey.

Maegyn had fallen back asleep and had swapped her thumb for her pink pacifier which she sucked on constantly, "Daddy look, I fixed Mae's blankies to she's nice and cosy" Emily whispered careful not to wake the baby.

"Thanks princess" he winked. As if on cue the phone began to ring, after attaching it to the car 'thingy magigy' as Rachel called it, he answered so they could all hear, "hello?" he could even recognise the slight panic in her voice.

"Hey"

"Hi Mommy"

"Hi Mom"

They all said in sync, Rachel gasped in excitement from down the phone "hi babies" she cooed, Finn loved when she'd submit into motherly mode and talk so sweet and tenderly to their kids. "Are you being good for Dad?"

"Yah Mom, except Emily was throwing food at me" Alfie snitches.

"But he did it to... I's been looking after Mae in the back" she stated proudly.

"_Really?!_"

"She has, thank God she's here or we'd be stuck" Finn sighed dramatically making her laugh again.

"Have they been good though?" Rachel asked returning to a serious tone, both children fell onto the edge of their seats waiting for their dad to blow them up, "they've been perfect Rach, Mae's slept on and off so she's not been too fussy"

"Great, how long will you guys be? I'm just about to head home now"

"Shouldn't be any more than two hours, how was your show by the way?"

Rachel smiled into the phone like always, "It was fine, I'm so tired though and I'm missing you guys like crazy" Finn felt a sense of calm throughout the car, his children obviously found their mother's voice soothing and quieted down to listen.

"We miss you to Momma... oh and I've stole your seat" Alfie mumbled.

"Little monkey, I'll get you for it"

After a few quick good byes Finn noticed his second youngest swaying into sleep with her head leant against the side of Maegyn's chair and her legs spread across her earlier seat, "you ok Buddy?"

Alfie paused before answering, "you ask me that a lot, why?"

He was a very curios child and at the 'questioning age', "because I need my little man to always be ok, or I can't be ok"

Alfie looked almost confused but just shrugged, he would probably not understand a word he just said for a good few years yet, "oh... by the way, I'm ok... are you ok?"

"Yeah, sure I'm fine. A little tired, and maybe even relieved that your sisters have fell asleep-" they laughed, "-but I'm more than great"

He allowed the little boy to surrender into sleep and within minutes he was out cold, though the journey was hectic and he was all sticky and had cereal in places cereal should never be, he loved his kids and wife more than anything.

Pulling into the drive way of their snowy New York mansion, the small porch light flickered on letting him know his wife was about to come out. Within seconds of getting out and quietly closing the door Rachel engulfed his large body, "I missed you guys so much, our house is too big for me to be all alone" she whimpered into his chest.

Smiling he looked down and kissed her forehead, "well next time you can travel back at the same time as us..."

"That bad?" Rachel cringed standing back to see his laughing face.

"Actually... no, however my ears are still ringing slightly, oh and I'm all sticky" he winced, Rachel giggled amused before planting a sweet kiss on his lips.

"As sorry as I feel for you, I really need to go hug my babies" she grinned letting him go, "go shower and I'll carry them in" she assured.

Nodding thankfully he walked through the darkness and up the five stone steps to their front door, before walking in her turned to see how excited and lit up Rachel's face was as she held a still sleeping Maegyn to her chest and talked to Alfie was slowly getting up but still sat on the passenger seat. Emily however was wide awake again and scattered around her legs bragging with dramatic gestures about how amazing their journey was...

And all's he could think was how absolutely fricken'awesome his family was... _how lucky am I_.


End file.
